“You guys won’t believe where I am right now. I got isekaid and now I’m in a PMD world! Like, lots of people will be jealous of my situation right now! Now, this may look like a totally random forest from our world, but here’s the thing, it’s not and I’m gonna prove it! Just wait until a lil’ brown and angy sac of fur appears and-...... holy shit… IT’S SO CUTE!!!”
I paused the video. “Heh, can’t wait to get the internet back so I can post this. Reddit is gonna lose their mind figuring out if this video is true or not.” I said to myself before putting my phone away in my shorts' pocket and getting myself comfortable in my new bed… or at least trying to get adjusted to this stupid pile of straws that they call a bed!
I sighed and asked myself. “What was I expecting? Not like they’ll have beds with mattresses to behemoths like aggron, tyranitar, metagross, and the list goes on.”
I was lying down on my new bed in my new room. It was night, probably, I didn’t know, I was in a house inside of a cave for fuck sake; sure hoping I didn’t look like a League player or a Redditor. Night or not, I was tired, that was for certain. Sure, I might’ve blacked out earlier today for unknown reasons, but after that, I walked, walked, and walked. I thought that was probably the longest I walked in like… two months, could be more or less, but I still could feel my legs burn, so I walked a lot. I may not have that big of a belly, but I knew I was a bit sedentary.
“Man, I can’t wait to look like a Gigachad once I start my new explorer job!” I exclaimed to myself as I let my phone drop beside me. I put my hands behind my head as I looked to the ceiling as a realization dawned on me. “... oh yeah… I’m gonna make an exploration team… just like the games.”
That scene played in my head, the part where Evon asked the question that would change how I’d live in this world forever.
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“Would… would you like to form an exploration team with me?”
I looked at Evon for a moment as my internet-powered brain started to process what he had just said. I blinked before I finally registered in my brain. ‘Oh my god… he did the PMD thing! Sure, that was a bit out of nowhere but… well, like the games except Explorers and Super, it’s expected. But unlike those games… I do have a choice in the matter.’
That’s right. I wasn’t chained down by something called the illusion of free choice. Unlike the games, this was real life, and unlike being forced by some kind of narrative, Evon might have an actual motive for wanting me to be his teammate. Should I question why before asking… nah, I’m lazy and it’s probably some coping mechanism as a way to forget.
However… do I really want to be in an exploration team…?
“Hm… eh, sure, why not.” I shrugged. “Not like I have anything better to do anyways rather than sit in my room all day.” I then yawned and turned back around, following Basidian. “See ya tomorrow, Evon!”
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‘Why I am like this? I should definitely change that in the future.’ “Haha, I think, as I know damn well I’ll do it again.”
I took a deep breath, the smell of earthly clay and dirt entering my nostrils as I breathed. This would be the smell I had to get used to while living here, accompanied by the smell of sulfur and ash because of the heatran I would be living with. It wasn’t that bad, at least I wasn’t forced to live with the smell of certain Pokémon like muk or gabodor…
… for some reason, my brain just thought of a regional variant of muk that is just being made out of pure shit. Thanks, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, now I just have to hope that my imagination gets debunked and doesn’t get turned into reality. No way in hell would I be fighting a pile of shit, no siree.
Trying to forget such a shit thought (kill me), I adjusted my position in the hay bed, trying to at least get in a comfortable position. Point of notice: there is none. Literally, I was sleeping on the hard dirt floor, having a pile of teensy tiny needles called straws poking at my skin. There was literally no way I would be sleeping in this bed unless I had thicker skin or fur or something-
Wait… I could have it.
I facepalmed lightly and thought. ‘Of course, you dumbass, you can transform into Pokémon!’ I sat up cross-legged on the bed, rubbing my chin in thought. “Now… what Pokémon should be the best sleeper in this “bed” ? Hm… ah, whatever, anything is good, we ball.”
I remembered what the voice in my head said and started picturing myself sleeping as a Pokémon in my head. It was a hazy image, I didn’t even know what Pokémon I was, just something with four legs…? However, I didn’t need to think about it much anymore since that was to trigger the transformation.
My vision got blinded by the color pink again and I could feel my body, painfully, change. I shrank down in size as my skeletal structure slowly morphed into something befitting of a quadrupedal, my hands and feet started shifting to the same shape, teensy tiny needles poked out of my skin, more of them appearing around my neck, and last but not least, a new limb that came out of my back.
Once the pink light was gone, the pain went away like it was never there before I fell on my back because of a really awkward position. I gritted my teeth a bit before opening my eyes and looking down at my body. From the angle I looked at, it looked like I had the body of a cat with brown fur, and my new muzzle only boosted that claim. However, as I analyzed my new body a bit more, I saw some cream-colored fur coming out from under my head. “Huh?” I rolled onto my belly and looked behind me, the iconic tail confirming what I was. “Oh, I turned into an eevee.” I pretended to wipe my brow with a paw. “Phew, dodged a massive bullet. At least it’s no vaporeon.”
I started feeling my new body as I did some simple movements with it; stretching my forelegs, moving my tail around (even though it felt so weird doing so), and even seeing how far I could bend my back in certain directions because this body gave cat-like vibes to me. Turned out I could stretch a lot (probably even stretch so much to do the cat thing but of course, never), it was nice to know I could turn into a liquid to fit into small spaces while still having the appearance of a dog as well.
After I finished my tests, I realized something. “The hell?” My phone was still right beside the pile of straws, it wasn’t gone when I transformed just like last time. I crawled to it and analyzed it. It was still the same as usual, with nothing changed and no damage to it. With a finger, I turned it on and saw the screen flare to life in an instant, showing that it was still functional. I raised my head and then looked at the side of the room, seeing my backpack still lying against the rocky wall. It then hit me. “Ooooh, I got it. So if I transform and the items are basically on me, they get shelved on my human form!”
I grinned and nodded while speaking to myself. “Nice, nice. Thanks for being so considerate about my items isekai gods. So whenever I’m in a battle and in Pokémon form, they won’t weigh me down.” My face then morphed into a frown of concern once I realized a major flaw with this. “Shit, my ADHD is definitely gonna make me forget to put my phone and backpack on me before transforming into a Pokémon… eh fuck it, like I’ll leave my stuff anywhere else besides the house.”
Then the reason for my transformation came back to me in the form of a yawn, causing me to open my mouth wide and show my small fangs for the world to see. “Oh yeah, it’s sleepy time…” I then tried to find a good position for me to sleep in the straw bed, thankfully, with an eevee body, it wasn’t as hard to be comfortable in the bed. Instinctively, I curled my body just like a cat would and it was considered comfy enough for me. How? I don’t fucking know, ask the guys who sleep in this position.
I thought that my mind would go batshit crazy as usual while trying to sleep but no, sleep came swiftly this time as I closed my eyes from the tiredness…
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My head started aching just as I opened my eyes slowly while gritting my teeth. Darkness was the only thing I could see, it was a black void where I could only see my body; seeing my… brown fur and… paws?
It seems I realized this was not normal so I took it as a lucid dream, after all, who the hell floats in a place like… uh… I’m too tired to make references. I looked around a bit more and asked myself. “Where am I this time? Hehe, it’d be funny if I got isekaid again-”
Clap, Clap, Clap.
A certain sound made me perk up a bit and turn around. The source of the claps was a bit obscured by a pink light shining right behind it, obscuring his form in a shade, however, I could determine a rough shape in the shade that seemed a bit familiar. It was small, had small legs and arms, two ears, and a long thin tail. Not only that, one thing that stood out from it was a single glowing yellow eye. I blinked a single time before I tilted my head. “Wut-?”
The shadowy figure stopped clapping and said in a smooth male voice. “I must congratulate you, Lucas. You have exceeded my expectations for you. Well… they might’ve been really low, but you’ve exceeded them nonetheless.”
I looked aside. “Uuuuuh….” I then looked back at the figure. “Who are you, um… shadow guy? Knowing anime… are you the deity that sent me here?”
“Well, deity might be stretching a little. However…” He (as I assumed from the voice) crossed his small arms. “Yes, I indeed summoned you to this world, however, not for the reasons you think.”
I frowned with a confused expression. “What do you mean?”
“To put it simply… I want you to fulfill your destiny.” The figure then lifted a stubby finger. “And no, before you say anything else, it doesn’t require saving the world.”
To say I was confused was the understatement of the century. Sure, I knew how this goes, an entity appears in the dreams and starts being all cryptic with the protagonist and the protag has to figure out what’s going on with the world with the help of the inhabitants of the world-
“I can see what you’re thinking and let me tell you right now. This isn’t like one of those situations you’ve seen in human media.” The entity responded, shaking his head.
My heart skipped a beat and I froze a bit shocked. “W-what the fuck…?”
The figure looked down at his paw while folding an arm behind his back. “You probably must be wondering to yourself, how I read your thoughts just now. Think a bit more and you’ll have the answer even a kid would figure out. But anyways…” He folded his other arm. “You can ask the other inhabitants of this world about danger, but as far as I know, there is none for now. I could tell what your destiny is right here but… it wouldn’t be deserved. You’re still far too naive and far too oblivious to grasp the severity of your role in this world, you wouldn’t even take it seriously.”
I overcame a bit of my shock and motioned a bit with my paws. “Still give a sign, ya know!?”
The shadow figure shrugged. “Sure, I’ll give you a little hint. It has to do with your transformations.” Somehow, I could tell that he was smirking. “Keep getting better at them and you’ll get closer to the biggest discovery of your life.”
I blinked a little bit. “What are you even yapping about? Why can’t you just-”
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM
The figure looked up, realizing the shaking around us. “Ah, look who’s finally waking up.” He looked back at me. “I’m afraid our little meeting has to be cut short for now. Continue getting better at transformations, only then the truth shall be clearer to you.” He turned around, his back facing me as his long tail swayed slowly. “See you sometime, Lucas.”
“Nuh-uh! This is my dream and I don’t wake up until I say so-!”
In an instant, I opened my eyes slowly, the awareness of my surroundings slowly returning to me. I realized I was drooling a little bit, the smell of my saliva entering my new powerful nostrils. My movements were a bit sluggish, however, once I got going, I shook my head rapidly and swallowed the saliva. “Buh…”
Knock, Knock, Knock
My hairs (or fur…) stood up as I was slightly startled by the knocking on the door. I looked at it and a familiar female and raspy voice sounded from the other side before I could ask. “Lucas, are you alright in there? It’s time for breakfast!”
The loud footsteps from the other side of the door started sounding distant. I blinked a bit, trying to get the sleepiness off my body. I yawned loudly before scratching behind my ear with my hind paw-... fuck!
I desperately tried to think about my mom before a pink flash covered my vision once again. From one second to another, I was back to human form, sitting up and looking at my hands while breathing rapidly. Nah…nananananananah. The fuck was that? Why did I scratch behind my ears without intending to? Why did it also feel good when I did it??? “Nonononono, I ain’t letting furry instincts overtake me that fucking easily! I won’t be getting that damn pathOwOgen anytime soon!”
I shook my head and palmed it a little bit, trying to force the remaining furry thoughts out of my head. If that’s what happens when you sleep only a single night in the body of an eevee, yeah, no thanks, imma gonna choose another body to sleep in and run away from the furry allegations.
After all of this is done, I don’t wanna go back and try to put a dog collar on my head, nuh-uh!
I got up and exited my room, looking around the living room once I was on the other side. The back of the living room had four other doors; one led to Basi’s room, another to the bathroom, another to the storage room, and, lastly, the room I slept in.
It was a bit strange for someone who lived alone to have an extra room for someone else to sleep on. ‘Then again… she did have that one Pokémon that she took in years ago so maybe this room was made for them?’ I thought to myself before shrugging. ‘Could be.’
Sitting at the table in the living room, I could see Basidian already eating her fill, swallowing a portion of food in a single bite. Honestly, not to be rude or anything, but if people had never seen a heatran before and saw one eating food for the first time, they would think they are their next meal… hold on, new trolling idea just dropped. Just gotta get good at transformations until I’m able to turn into one-
“Keep getting better at them and you’ll get closer to the biggest discovery of your life.”
The words from my dream rang again in the front of my mind, the image of that shaded figure being present once again in my head. I frowned as I crossed my arms. ‘So that was the isekai god that brought me here. What a fella he was… why did he even want me to focus on getting better at my transformation anyway?’ My stomach started to punch my belly by rumbling, stopping my thoughts. “Eh, I’ll think about it later…”
I approached the table and the heatran looked at me. She said while I sat down. “Oh, hi there, Lucas! Have you slept well?”
I smiled at Basidian and responded. “Yep! Slept like a baby. Sleep came packing today.” ‘Packing more stuff than it should with that dream and animalistic instincts in the morning.’ I thought to myself. That was honestly one of the nights of all time, but well, I’ll take it over stupid red-eye shadow being jumpscare any day of the week.
The fire and steel type tilted her head. “So, tell me. Are our beds better than your world’s? I mean, you said you slept like a baby.”
I looked aside a bit sheepishly after taking a loaf of bread on the table. “Uh… to be honest…” I looked back at Basidian, speaking the truth. “I had to turn into a Pokémon to sleep. Human skin is a bit sensitive and the straws were like… making my skin really itchy.” I explained to her yesterday that I came from another world, that humans aren’t really a Pokémon species and the fact that I knew about Pokémon. Of course, she was a bit baffled and started asking me some questions, only four or five, she had mercy on me because she noticed I was really tired. “Sorry, I didn’t meet your expectations.” I shrugged.
The heatran shook her head. “Oh no, don’t be! It’s completely understandable, after all, you came from a different world and your bed must be made out of different materials, likely kinder materials to your skin.” She then hummed in thought as I took a bit out of the bread. “I’ve been wondering… do humans at least have cores to compensate for their weak anatomy?”
After munching the bread and swallowing, I looked at Basidian a bit confused, tilting my head. “Wha? What do you mean by cores?”
“Huh? Do you… don’t you know what cores are?” She then looked at me from a few angles, squinting her eyes as she tried to spot something.
“Uh… are you talking about cell cores or something?” I asked, even more confused.
“Oh dear… you really don’t know what cores are. Uh… do humans live without one?”
“Uh… Basi, I dunno what you mean about cores, so unless you mean soul or something else entirely, it’s better to just explain it.” I said with a sheepish shrug.
She stopped analyzing and sniffing me before sighing. “You’re right, after all, you did come from a different world.” The heatran folded her legs and sat on the ground. “So, as you don’t know, cores are essentially a Pokémon’s source of life. It’s what allows us to use our magical abilities and compresses our essence into our bodies.”
I scratched my cheek. “I get the first part but uh… I’m confused about the last part.”
Basidian looked up and hummed, looking at me after perking up. “Here’s a way to explain it. The me that you see now, metal face and everything, isn’t the real me. The me you see is basically just a barrier of protection of the real me, my core. You see, a Pokémon can’t exist without their cores because their cores are them.”
“Hold on, hold on, hold on!” I said waving my hands forward. Too much info for my memer brain to handle… shit, the existential questions about all of this are coming. “You saying… Pokémon bodies are just a magical extension of the core? If that’s the case, what happens if a Pokémon just… ya know, dies? What happens to the core?”
“Simply put… moments after a Pokémon’s death, their bodies vanish, only leaving a dull black rock that was once their cores. That is... if the body isn't separated from the core, then it can the body preserved before disappearance. However… there are Pokémon who are an exception to this.”
I tilted my head. “What? Some can cheat death?”
“Well… kinda.” She cleared her throat and motioned with a foot. “You see, there are certain Pokémon whose cores are strong enough so when they die, they are rehatched if their core isn’t destroyed. They are stuck in a cycle of rehatch to keep taking care of the world. Our deities are the main example of this since they are the only ones recorded who can do that.”
“Deities like… Palkia or something?” For some reason, saying that name felt heavy in my heart, but I ignored it since the pain went away. The heatran nodded. “Wait, so they basically just respawn for free? Just like that?”
“Respawn?”
“U-uh… it’s a term for reviving back in my world.” I replied a bit sheepishly.
“I see. Well… there is one issue with it. After they are reborn, they acquire a new personality. Basically, just become an entirely different person.” Basidian frowned as she looked up. “I remember reading about a certain event that happened ages ago. Zekrom started having ruthless ideals and started following them… I rather not talk about these gruesome events in front of a child, but just so you know, it was horrible.” I scowled a little bit in annoyance, getting treated like a child… again . “Anyways, Zekrom was executed for his actions, however, he was rehatched a few months later. But instead of having the same ideals as before… he sought out a different approach. He was more friendly and sympathetic, like a different person entirely.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“So… if I’m getting this correctly. Basically, old one dies, and new one takes over in the same body. Is that correct?” I tilted my head, ignoring the fact that heatran still considers me a kid. If only she saw what the kids in my world act and see on the internet nowadays…
“That’s true.” She then hummed in thought. “Though… it’s a bit strange… sometimes it feels like the new Pokémon that’s recently hatched knows a lot more than it should… but it must be something divine giving them that knowledge.”
“Hm…” I grabbed the apple on the table. “I got a question. Are heatran able to… rehatch? If I remember correctly, your species is kinda strong.”
Basidian looked aside. “Eh…” She shrugged. “Not really. We don’t fulfill a task for the world and there are more than thousands of us recorded in the world so I don’t think that can happen. But well… there are exceptions to that like shaymin and manaphy and even marshadow which are odd ones...”
“That’s interesting… but well, thanks for the biology lesson!” I said with a thumbs-up before biting on the apple. Interesting indeed, which makes me question myself. If I could transform into beings that are the manifestation of these cores… did that mean that I also gained a core? And if that’s the case… did I gain the cool respawning one just because I’m human?
My memer legacy would live on!
“No problem, Lucas!” As I started to munch on the apple, Basidian said. “By the way, as I sniffed you before, I noticed something and I wanted to ask you...” I looked at the heatran and tilted my head in confusion. “When was the last time you bathed?”
My eyes widened a bit as she pointed out something that I thought no one would care about in this world. I started getting a bit nervous about where this question would lead up to. “Uh… so…”
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This… is BULLSHIT!!!
Why I’m being forced to do this!? This is outrageous, truly preposterous, and whatever other adjective those fancy people use! Why the hell does a creature whose species was born from the depth of volcanoes care about something as useless as that!? I thought that this world wouldn’t mind it, but of course, just to fuck with me, they do!
And I’m being expelled from my new home because of it!
What is the reason? Simple. I was just a bit stinky for not taking a bath for four days straight. And now, Basi wanted me to go to the bathhouse to take care of the smell and I’m not allowed to go back until I took a bath! That boomer lady needs to know that gamers don’t bathe, deodorant is already enough! Too bad the deodorant in my backpack is empty.
I sighed in annoyance. ‘How could I, Alpha Gamer and Master Memer Lucas, sink so low and be forced to take a bath? My ancestors are gonna be so ashamed of me they won’t even look at me! It’s so joever…’
Unfortunately, instead of getting lost in the village, I knew exactly where to go because Basidian gave me the exact coordinates to your mom’s- I mean, to the bathhouse. I walked slowly, trying my best to delay the inevitable, but of course, my brain was just focusing on memorizing the checkpoints that the heatran gave me, so, of course, it had the perception that I was going fast.
I tried keeping my brain occupied while focusing on the way, looking at the surroundings of the rocky tunnel. However, as I walked, I noticed that some of the villagers were looking at me with suspicious and weirded-out looks like they were seeing in me something they weren’t supposed to be seeing. Guys, I get it, okay? Humans are hideous because of their soft skin, fragile limbs, and dumb hair, the same reason why jynx are considered ugly.
What surprised me was that one of the villagers walked up- actually the better term, sneaked up on me, and squeaked to call my attention.
“Hey, mister.”
I looked around before glancing down, seeing the source of the high-pitched female voice. It was a small pichu with spiky fur, not only on her ears but on the end of her tail and her forehead. I had to resist a very big urge to squeal and pet her rapidly from the cuteness overload. After all, I needed to keep my menacing masculinity- just kidding, I had none of that because of very obvious reasons.
I crouched down. “Why hello there, want something?”
The little pichu then surprised me by poking one of my cheeks with a paw. “What kind of Pokémon are you? Are you some rare kind or something? You look…”
“Fragile, weak, and ugly as-” I bit my tongue. I needed to have some restrains, this pichu seems to be six years old at max. “... as a bruxish? Well, I knew that already. I’m a-”
Suddenly, the pichu started floating , covered in a purplish hue. “My child!” I looked to the side and saw an alolan raichu floating towards us on their tail like a surfing board. With a glowing paw, it was made clear that she was the one making the pichu levitate. She stopped in front of us and looked at her child with a glare. “What did I tell you about bothering strangers?”
The pichu looked aside, feeling ashamed. “S-sorry mama…”
I tried to butt in. “Sorry ma’am but, like, she wasn’t bothering-”
The raichu turned to me and bowed, looking a little nervous. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” She then bowed while still maintaining balance on her tail. “Please forgive my daughter.” Before I could even respond, both electric rodents were already floating away. “Come on, Raina, you can’t be late for school.”
I raised a finger, trying to have something come out of my mouth, but ultimately failed. I sighed and continued on my merry way to the bathhouse. ‘There goes my only chance at delaying the inevitable even more… I could tell that raichu was afraid. Geez, I know that humans are ugly, but not to the point of looking like a skinwalker.’
After that little event, it wasn’t long until I finally reached the bathhouse. Instead of looking like another building inside a cave, it was only two big doors in an archway supported by stone. From what Basi told me, apparently this bathhouse is basically just an entire lake made out of cave water. Since the entire thing is made out of natural water, any Pokémon can go to the bathhouse to drink or bathe at any time without paying a single coin. It was weird having the place be named a bathhouse if Pokémon can also go there to drink water… but anyway.
Guess who was the dumbass that was there to bathe, that’s right.
Without any more hesitation, I pushed through the doors and entered the bathhouse with a sigh. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t suddenly become clean out of out of magic. Is there even a Pokémon that can clean others in an instant? … no, there isn’t… boo-womp.
After I crossed the archway, the small tunnel after the doors expanded into something similar to one of those wide cave space areas in Minecraft, but of course, the one I was seeing wasn’t all blocks and rectangles. Rocky walls and pillars supported a high ceiling with one pillar in the middle of a large portion of water. Covering the entire floor of the area was a giant shallow pool made out of crystalline water that shone with the reflection of light sources like the torches on the walls.
The place wasn’t empty either, some Pokémon were in there too. A slowking was dipping their legs in the water, a rockruff and a clefairy were having fun splashing water onto one another, and surprisingly, a lumineon. There were, of course, more Pokémon, but surprisingly, most of them were aquatic water types. Like, there was even a milotic here for crying out loud.
I’m glad that at least the fish Pokémon can breathe air because goddamn was that such a shallow lake.
‘Wait, fuck, my clothes…’ I took another long glance at the room, finding no private parts of the pool so I could take a bath while fully naked. A thought then occurred to me, since literally, all Pokémon in here are naked, there wouldn’t be a problem if I was too… right? ‘Nuh uh, my humanity will prevail. I’m not getting naked in public anytime soon. Now, I might be a bit silly, a bit goofy, but not crazy!’
I would just decide to turn into a Pokémon. Since I was bathing, I decided to turn into a water type, maybe it could be more relaxing that way. I sure hoped that I would still smell clean and feel washed after that because that would sure suck.
To not scare the other Pokémon and make them barrage me with a thousand questions, I hid behind a certain rock formation on the archway and started thinking about the Pokémon I wanted to transform. After not too much thought, I decided on the Pokémon I wanted to become and imagined myself as the Pokémon, swimming around without a care in the world. That was the trigger to the transformation.
This time, the transformation came just as quickly as it ended, the pink flash disappearing from my vision. I barely felt as much of that silent agony when transforming this time, sure, it was still there, but it was not as present as last time. From one moment to another, I was a buizel, with orange and cream fur coating my body, small blue fins on my arms, and the iconic twin tails.
If already having an extra limb felt weird, two extra ones sent shivers down my body after I realized I could move the two of them independently.
I took a look at my paws before checking out my new tails, moving them randomly before trying to spin them around like a certain fox. I grinned. “Heh, I’m getting used to this transforming business.” I looked up, and just by the doors, there was an excadrill with a black armband on his arm staring at me with his eyes widened and in silence, only blinking a few times.
I froze as a shiver went down my spine. ‘I got caught in 4K, didn’t I?’ There was nowhere to go, he saw me, and now I had to pay the price… or did I?
I pointed at the excadrill’s feet with a paw and shouted. “Oh my gawd! Those Js fake as hell!” The drill mole looked down at his feet, a bit confused and startled by my claim. With that opportunity, I got the fuck out of there and went inside the lake, jumping on the water and making sure I avoided other Pokémon having fun in it.
After running for a bit, I reached the rock pillar in the middle and hid behind it, sitting against it and sinking my toes in the water. I let out a sigh of relief and pumped a furry fist in the air. “We move with another W in the bag!” I then noticed the same milotic from before staring at me, confusion plastered on their face. Unlike before, however, I could see that they wore a red ring under their head, wrapped around his neck. Masking my based way of speaking, I grinned sheepishly at them. “Uh… nice… nice weather we’re having, amiright?”
The milotic blinked before speaking with a smooth male voice. “Hm… yes? I think?” Instead of slithering away, he slithered close to me and stopped right in front of me. With just bro’s upper body, he already towered over me, looking like I was in one of those really bad anaconda movies but the snake had masterful CGI.
The masterful CGI in this scenario is real life.
I frowned a little bit nervous as I scratched my cheek. “Uh… want something?”
“Hm… you’re new to this village, aren’t you?” He said as he started looking at me at different angles, only his long upper body moving around.
I crossed my arms. “Is there a problem with being new here?”
The long sea serpent stopped analyzing me and coiled a little bit, glancing aside. “I just find it surprising that in two days in a row, two new Pokémon appeared in the village in less than two days if reports are correct.” He then looked back at me. “Now you, a buizel that I’ve never met before, appear out of nowhere as well…”
I looked away a bit more nervously, fiddling with my paws. ‘Oh yeah… this village has security, I forgot about that. So apparently there are hidden surveilors around the village that report to this guy, for some reason. Yeah, that’s cool. So cool I met him right on my second day in this village and he’s already aware of my existence. Man, I’m dead.’ “Uh…” I looked back at him, deciding that it was better to explain to him since I would be living here, and I’d probably be transforming a lot . “So… what if I told ya that those two other Pokémon that were reported were also me…?”
The milotic tilted his head and tilted his head with a big eyebrow raised. “What…?”
I raised a finger in the air. “Now, I know that may seem crazy, knowing that I was crazy once and was trapped in a rubber room with rats, b-bu-but!” I paused for dramatic effect before continuing. “I am not delusional and I have the proof. I can show it to you…” I looked around once again. The pool was more crowded than I’d like it to be. “But um… somewhere more private, I’m not gonna leak the IP address that is my power.”
The milotic blinked. “Huh… so… you’re saying that you can shape-shift?” I nodded in confirmation and gave a thumbs-up. “Hm… I see.” The aquatic serpent uncoiled and started floating away, not before stopping midway and looking back at me. “Meet me at the village’s entrance once you’re done bathing, don’t keep me waiting.”
With that, the floating noodle went, even having a scale fall off his body. I blinked a little bit before sinking my body a bit deeper into the water, the action for some reason felt more refreshing than it should. ‘Congrats Lucas, you dumbass, you just put yourself on a possible village FBI watchlist! Don’t you feel so proud of yourself for just jeopardizing the entirety of your quiet life in the village? Also, geez, that last line made it feel like he was ordering me or something.’ I scratched my back a bit as I reevaluated my current situation. “Actually… not that quiet since I’m gonna join an exploration team…” I muttered to myself.
I relaxed myself a bit more, putting my paws behind my head as I leaned on the rocky pillar. It wasn’t that comfortable, but eh, I wasn’t expecting it to be comfortable anyway. Since it was one of those rare moments I was bathing, it called for one of the best things to do while bathing. Existential questions and reflection on bad life choices! Let’s start with a simple one!
Why in the actual fuck did I agree to join a fucking exploration team?!
I could just chalk it up to me just being tired as fuck, but no, I won’t. Because that decision is actually gonna be the biggest regret of my entire life. Why? Simple. I may have been overconfident as fuck since I discovered that my powers are OP as hell, and with the help of plot armor, it will get me out of any tricky situation I find myself in just like the fight with Valtrus, right? NUH-UH!
This, this entire thing was real life, not some virtual reality game that I was put in just because, haha, fun! Nope! Now that I have a clearer and not sleep-deprived mind, I can, in fact, realize this is not fiction. There IS no plot armor to save me, there IS no UI system to guide me. It was just me and my powers. I was lucky that furry god guy was merciful enough to at least give me simple directions after being an annoyance.
Speaking of the furry god guy, let me tackle that topic reeeeeal quick!
What in the actual fuck does he want with me?
He said I had a destiny to fulfill. Sure, what kind of destiny is it that doesn’t require me to save an entire world? Why did he bring the random quirked-up tan boy goated with the sauce who only knew how to post memes, play games, and be another internet comedian that only a few people cared about? Was this a test? Was all of this a test just so he could uh… I dunno, experiment to see if humans are ideal for saving the world or not? Like, bro just could’ve given me a sign, didn’t even let me talk to my family-
… my family…
Oh fuck… I didn’t even factor them in this situation. They must be worried to oblivion, wondering where the fuck I went to! If months pass and I’m still not back, they’ll definitely gonna think that I died or something like that. Hell… they probably already think that because there has been a long time difference between this world and mine…
Suddenly, I saw something at the bottom of my vision moving fast before falling into the water, more following suit. There were drops of some liquid falling into the pool water. I suddenly sniffled and it became apparent to me, especially when I wiped a paw on my face and looked at it. It was a tear… my tears. I was weeping in silence and I didn’t even notice it.
I sniffled again and wiped the tears off my face before splashing some water on it. ‘Stop fucking crying, she wouldn’t want to see you cry.’ I thought to myself before drinking pawfuls of water to clench my thirst, the water being surprisingly cool and tasty.
Well, that was the breakdown of all time, I expected it to have it some other time when my head gets unclogged from all the memes.
I then got up, left the pool, and shook my body to get water off my fur a bit before a completely random thought entered my head. ‘Did I just drink out of place that some Pokémon definitely piss on?’ I looked behind at the pool before just shrugging and starting to walk out of the bathhouse. ‘Eh fuck it, it’s natural water, it gets replaced every day.’ I didn’t even notice that my fur was a little floofed up.
As I walked through the tunnels of Cavestone, I tried to fill my head with funny memes to try to get rid of all the negativity. I really hate just thinking about this stuff all the time, literally, nothing good comes out of it. That’s something I learned during my depression period when I kept constantly thinking about Mom.
Never want to be in that state ever again.
Funny cat videos, hilarious skits, and memes started filling my head again, trying to shove all the things about my breakdown, breakdown to the back of my mind. I sighed and stretched my body, even flexing my tails a bit. “Alright, now that the nightmare that is bathing is said and done, time to drop the biggest exposed doc to someone, detailing all of my abilities and backstory…” I limped and whined in tiredness. “This is gonna be so fun…”
“Lucas? Is that you?”
I stopped walking and turned to the source of the familiar voice. I saw a certain eevee walking towards me, eyepatch and all. Yep, that was Evon alright. I dunno what it was, but his black eyepatch made him look like he had a strict and judgemental look on his face. “Yo, Evo.” I gave a small paw wave before frowning sheepishly and looking away. “So… slept well?”
The eevee glanced aside. “Better than other nights, at least.” He then looked back at me. “And you…?”
“Well, would you believe that this night was weird? Basically uh… I met with the deity that summoned me here… through my dream.” I admitted with a sheepish shrug.
Evon’s eyes widened. “What!?” He leaned closer to me, curiosity appearing on his face. “What did they say? And who was it? Cresselia?”
“Well, they were in my dream but from what I saw from shade alone… he wasn’t really Cresselia-shaped.” I crossed my arms and grimaced a bit. “About what he said though… he said that I needed to get better at my transformations to find the reason to why I am here… something about my destiny or whatever. Bro really tryin’ to make this a game show or somethin’.”
Evon frowned, probably expecting something more than what I said. “Was there something else he said? Like a clue?”
“Nope. He said that getting better at transforming is the hint and I was gonna do that anyway!” I sighed before turning away and starting to walk again. “Welp, I ain’t gonna keep thinking about what he says, I’ll just go with the flow and do whatever I want here. Besides, I need to go see someone.”
The eevee tilted his head as he started walking beside me. “Who?”
“Eh, you’ll see. He’s waiting for me at the village’s entrance. I uh… was forced to talk about my powers…” I sighed. “Not like I was caught transforming, but like, he has sources around the village that keep an eye on newcomers. I assume he’s some kind of chief around here.”
Evon raised an invisible eyebrow. “Um… we don’t have police here like the big cities, only a couple of guards. Tell me… what Pokémon was he?”
“Well, he’s-” I interrupted myself when I saw a bit of a powerful light that wasn’t from any torches. “Oh, we’re here!” With that, I ran to the entrance, having no difficulties running since this body was bipedal, even with way smaller legs than before. I didn’t pause to look back to check if Evon was following me or not, I was more focused on getting this done so I could also get to the discussion of my new team with Evon as soon as possible.
It took a few seconds to leave the cave, but once I was out, I started looking around for the milotic. It wasn’t that hard to spot the big water noodle, I saw him brushing the scales of his tail with one of his big pink eyebrows. Oh yeah, forgot they are limbs, for some reason. I would make a Jojo reference, but that character is so obscure that I even forgot her name. I only remember her stand name which was basically her hair.
“Yo, I’m here.” I announced with a finger salute and a grin, making the milotic turn to me.
A smile appeared on the milotic’s mouth. “That was earlier than anticipated, but I enjoy having things done sooner than expected.” He then looked at the cave and saw Evon walking out of there. “Oh, hi there, Evon. Unexpected to see you here.”
Evon flinched once his eyes laid on the water serpent. “Guidmaster Quartzo!? What are you doing here?”
“Wut?” I blinked a bit in disbelief and surprise before looking at the milotic again. I blinked a couple more times before pointing a paw at him. “YOU’RE a guildmaster!?”
“Oh… you didn’t know. My apologies, allow me to introduce myself.” He lowered his head and pointed his tail fin to himself, closing his eyes. “My name is Quartzo and I’m guildmaster of the Stalacta guild from Cavestone Village.” He opened his eyes and asked as he coiled the lower half of his body. “So, who might you be?”
I put a paw on my side. “Well… the name’s Lucas and uh… I’m a human. Now, I don’t look like one right now but hold your horse-... I mean, scales. Let me show you what I mean.” With positive thoughts about my mom, the transformation was triggered. I opened my arms, and with a flash of pink in my eyes taking at least ten seconds, I was back into my human form, the flash disappearing and letting me see the world again. I grinned and pointed a thumb to myself, getting amused by the milotic’s shocked reaction. “And now, I’m a human!”
Quartzo was left speechless, only blinking a few times with his widened red eyes.
Evon stopped beside me and sat on the ground. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it once you’ve seen it enough times.”
After a moment, the water serpent suddenly looked aside and muttered something unintelligible to me. I only managed to get a few words before he suddenly turned to me and asked. “Tell me… how did you get that ability, Lucas?”
I rubbed the back of my head. “Uh… kinda big backstory but the basic gist of it is that I am from another world, got sent to this one, and was gifted to do something with them. What that is?” I crossed my arms and looked away in a bit of annoyance. “I dunno, I’m still trying to wrap my head around a revelation I had recently on what my purpose in this world is.”
“What revelation?” The milotic tilted his head.
Evon, being the gentleman that he was, saved me some breath and responded for me. “He said that he saw the deity that summoned him in his dream, and apparently told them a clue to figuring out his destiny.”
I snorted a bit, a bit angry at the situation. “Clue my ass, he barely told me shit. If you’re there to talk about my destiny or something, say something more useful!”
Quartzo sighed. “I’m sorry about you being put into this situation without your consent, Lucas. I hope you can return to your world soon.”
“I’ll try my best… but I guess I’ll also try my best to survive this world too.” I said with a sigh before I perked up about. “Wait, since you’re the guildmaster… perfect, you’re just the guy Evon and I wanted to talk to! Or your guild, whatever calls the shots to form exploration teams.”
He tilted his head. “Oh? Are you planning to form an exploration team with…” He turned his head to face the eevee, a grimace entering his face. “Um… Evon… are you… are you really sure about this? I thought-”
“Don’t worry, guildmaster.” The eevee interrupted. “I know what I’m doing and I want to form an exploration team with Lucas.”
I looked at Evon to see any kind of resolve or hesitation on his face, however, I saw something else. I dunno what it was but his face had such a steeled expression like he knew why he was doing this with no second thoughts. ‘Why I’m getting cold version of the PMD partner Pokémon vibes?’
Quartzo closed his eyes and hummed. “Hm… if you say so.” He then motioned to the village with his long eyebrow limb… thing. “Well, if you’re ready to join the guild, I’ll take you there so you can sign a form and-”
“Guildmaster!”
A sudden muffled voice appeared out of nowhere, making me look around trying to spot the source. However, the source would soon reveal himself (or themselves) once out of the ground. The alolan dugtrio from yesterday emerged from the dirt and looked at the milotic, a panicked look on their face. “There’s an emergency!”
“Explain, what happened?” The milotic grimaced in concern.
I crossed my arms and copied the water noodle’s expression. ‘Oh geez, please don’t tell me I’m gonna get dragged on guild drama literally on my second day here…’
The dugtrio explained a bit hastily. “The daughter of Ramia the Raichu has been kidnapped by the Dark Rebellion!”
Evon’s eyes widened. “What!?”
The dugtrio continued. “A Pokémon wearing a black armband was seen kidnapping the pichu!”
The milotic groaned. “Did you know where they took them?”
“We don’t know, but we have rumors that they came from the back tunnels that lead to the other side of the mountain! One of them must’ve snuck in without us noticing!” The blonde moles stated before they started weeping. “We’re so sorry!”
“It’s not your fault, they must’ve sent a Pokémon that’s used to cloaking ground waves. We should’ve been more alert…” The guildmaster acknowledged.
In the middle of the tense situation, despite having literally nothing to do with the situation nor having any kind of insight into what the fuck it’s going on, I added something. “Uh… I saw an- uh…” Suddenly, everyone looked at me. “An… excadrill on the bathhouse when entering it, and he was wearing a black armband around their arm. I dunno, can they cloak themselves from the groundwaves or something?”
“They… they can…” Quartzo said before he started floating in place. “Alright, I’ll call a few teams to scope out those tunnels.” He turned to the dugtrio. “Warn other guards around the village to keep watch on the village’s vicinity. Don’t forget to check some private areas as well.” The three moles nodded before digging into the ground.
I scratched my cheek and asked. “So… we gonna do something as well or…”
“Tell me, Lucas.” The serpent leaned his head closer to me. “How good are you in a fight?”
I blinked before limping, knowing that lying would get me nowhere in this situation. “I can handle myself at least… is that enough?”